I've seen him before
by Ashae
Summary: Nozaki Sakura is on her way to America, where her new school for athletes awaits her. But on the airport she meets someone familiar; what is he doing here? AU(?) set after Galaxy.


Disclaimer: all characters belong to Level-5 ! I don't own anything, only the plot.

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The FFIV2 has ended. After having fought against numerous soccer teams, Shinsei Inazuma Japan won the cup. Everyone has gotten their rewards, the reason why they joined the team in the first place. After all this time, Nozaki Sakura could finally go abroad, to a school that was good enough for her. A school where she could become the best of the world. Her parents received a call from Coach Kuroiwa, regarding a school in America that would be perfect for her.

"I'm going to do my very best!" She told her parents at the airport. Her mother nodded. "And you are going to _be_ the very best."

"You're our daughter, after all." Her dad continued. He was smiling, just like his wife. It gave Sakura a warm feeling inside. A very rare one, that is. A feeling she had accomplished something, something that satisfied her parents. Like when she had become number one in Japan.

"Now go and become the best, daughter." Her mother commanded. Sakura returned the smile.

"Yes!"

She waved at her parents as she walked side wards, to the terminal. They waved back, holding each other. Sakura made her parents proud. She did it. And she's going to make them even more proud.

There were still two hours before the girl had to board the plane. She was being too excited for this day and woke up early. Now, Sakura could rest and wander around for a while. Her parents have given her some money to spend at the terminal, so she wouldn't be bored.

Sakura sighed as she leaned back on a brown, wooden chair. Behind her was a small bush, in the middle of a big flower pot, surrounded by smaller plants.

_Konoha, _she thought. Her ex-teammate made a hissatsu with this kind of bush. But that's in the past. She shook her head. She had to let it go and move on, to a bright, new future. Thinking about Shinsei Inazuma Japan wouldn't help her at all. She had to focus on rhythmic gymnastics. She had to concentrate on becoming the best of the world.

The sound of trolleys wheeling around filled the silence. A couple walked past, their arms linked and their lips curving into smiles. A trolley with two suitcases rolled in front of them. The girl laughed. Her giggle echoed trough the hall, it sounded almost scary.

Behind the couple were a few stores, one of them sold phone accessorizes, one of them was a mini market and the other one sold sport equipment. Not much, though. They mainly sold tees and socks. Sakura was very interested, though. There could be some rhythmic gymnastics equipment, which was very interesting to stare at.

She walked towards the store, with the sound of her footsteps echoing on the tiles. The shop wasn't that empty. A little girl pointed at a soccer tee, pulling her mother's sleeve. "Can you get that for me, mommy?" She asked, trying to make here eyes big and her under lip forward. Her mother smiled and grabbed her daughter's hand. "You're still too little for that. Wait until you grow up, okay?"

"Hm-hm!" The girl nodded.

No, Sakura sighed. Not soccer. Not again. She looked around the store, seeking for things that could distract her from that particular topic. Somewhere in the corner of the shop were basketball tees, which Sakura neared. Basketball surely was an interesting thing. You dribble the ball around, and if you're able to dodge your opponents who try to steal your ball, you take your chance to throw the ball in the basket. It was a sport where your hands could freely touch the ball. Moreover, it was important to touch the ball with your hands. But was using your feet against the rules or not?

"You can't use it on purpose but if it simply strikes the foot it's not violation..." A deep voice behind her ear murmured. "Thinking out loud, are ya."  
Sakura turned around in shock. "W-who are you?" Was the first thing what popped up into her mind. The boy rested his hand on her shoulder. Sakura looked at her shoes in embarrassment.  
_What is this stranger do-_

"Nozaki."

Sakura looked up. Before her stood a tall, white-haired boy with a black headband and plum colored, snake-ish eyes. Her eyes widened, but she relaxed a bit, despite the close distance between them. She got an uneasy feeling inside, though. To her, this wasn't a stranger. This was-

"Ibuki Munemasa. Do you still remember me?" The boy pulled a smile.

"Y-yeah, we met yesterday." The girl calmed down a little as she tried to smile back. "I mean, we took a leave of each other yesterday."

"Good, you haven't forgotten."

Sakura sighed in relief when her ex-teammate took a step back. "But uh," Ibuki continued. "Why are you here?"

"I'm going to study abroad." She replied. "How about you?"

"Yeah, me too." Ibuki scratched the back of his head. "Why, uhm, are you in this shop?"

"I just wanted to look at sports clothes. That's all." Sakura looked in Ibuki's eyes for a second, after which she pulled her look away.

"Ah, I see."

"Well then," Sakura waved and tried to brighten up her smile. "I-I'll see you later!" She tippled away, with her sports bag dangling beside her. As fast as she could, she ran to the closest women's toilet possible. Sakura didn't care about the looks that she could get. The most important thing for now was reaching the toilet stalls.

The pink-haired girl panted for air. Sure, she was athlete and thus fit, but her heart was already beating fast. The idea of talking about soccer again made her nervous. It was a fun time but sadly, it's over. She had to let it go. Sakura wanted to get away from Ibuki as fast as possible since she wanted to forget all the soccer. That couldn't happen if she meets her old teammates. She sighed. It's rude to just run away. _Should I go back? _ Sakura considered. A woman flushed a toilet and exited the stall. Not minding Sakura, she just washed her hands.

_It's rude not to go back._ Sakura thought. Ibuki was a nice guy. But he reminded her of when he got everyone's attention, and she didn't. He reminded her of her failure. Talking to him will not only remind her about soccer, it would also make her sad.

Sakura couldn't just sit here for two hours. Ibuki would go looking for her, she hadn't even said goodbye in a proper way. She sighed. _Should I just go for it, then?_

"Hey, why did you suddenly disappear?" Ibuki stood in front of the store when he saw Sakura walking in his direction.

"I had to go to the toilet." Sakura tried to smile as innocent as possible.

The ex-goalkeeper nodded and looked at her. There was a long, awkward silence.

Well, it wasn't that silent. In the background you could hear people running to the closing gates with their trolleys and mini-suitcases. Children cried and screamed. Announcements informed delays and departures every now and then.

"Are you, eh, traveling alone?" Ibuki asked to break the silence.

"Yeah, you?"

"Hmm-hmm."

Both of them remained quiet for a few seconds.

"What now?" Sakura looked at the fellow athlete.

"Should we get some food?" Ibuki offered. Sakura nodded in agreement.

The two of them walked around for a while as the looked for food that would suit both of their tastes. "Do you like pasta?" Sakura pointed at an Italian restaurant. Ibuki shook his head and grabbed her hand. He pulled her over to a shop in the corner, while she would ask him out loud why.

"A hamburger shop?" Deep inside, the girl felt comfortable. This could be a step forward to America. She would eat much healthier food there, but she barely eats fast food and it's ok for a few times, right?

Ibuki ordered two burgers, not asking Sakura what she wanted. To her surprise it was the one she wanted to pick. She had no reason to object, anyway. After getting their meals, they chose a table near a window, looking out to a big hall.

Without really talking to each other despite sitting across each other, the two friends ate their food. At times Sakura took glances at Ibuki, who was wearing a green baseball jack with white sleeves. He wasn't wearing his usual black headband, though. Sakura chuckled. He looked pretty cute without it.

"What's so funny?" Ibuki asked.

"You look silly without your headband." The girl would try her best not to laugh out loud.

Her friend went trough his hair with his hand. "Oh." He said. "Well, your hair isn't normal either." Sakura responded with a confused stare.

"In a good way I mean." Ibuki said as he tried to clear it up. "It's pretty cute."

"Oh."

They stared at each other for a little while.

"Thank you."

Ibuki looked away quickly and continued eating his burger. Sakura did the same. They kept saying nothing, eating their food until they were done. _It's weird._ The blue-eyed girl thought. _I'm not a quiet person, neither is he. _She looked at the person sitting across her, who looked back for a second and then quickly pulled away. At least they weren't talking about soccer.

Sakura looked at a big clock in the hall behind the window. _There's just one hour left._ Her eyes widened. Did they sit here for that long?

Suddenly, Ibuki stood up. "I uh, should get going." He smiled.

"Me too." Sakura piled up their plates and brought them back as Ibuki threw the rests of their food in the garbage can.

The two stood in front of the burger shop. Around them people were running to get their flights at the last minutes. There were a lot more people now than half an hour ago, that's for sure.

"Bye then, Ibuki-kun." Sakura waved with one hand, burying the other one in her bag.

"Yeah. Bye, Nozaki." Ibuki did the same.

Then, he turned around and walked away.

Sakura sighed. This was her final time seeing someone related to soccer. She kept looking at him until he was around the corner, where he waved her one final greet.

But there was still one hour left for her. She looked around, looking for a place to sit. Or maybe she could go to the gate now, so she didn't have to wait later on. Yes, that sounded reasonable.

Sakura entered the long, white passage that would lead her to her plane. In front of her was a family of four people; a mother, a father and two daughters. The youngest one was about five years old and held a little car behind her back, and the older one was ten and wore a cute little dress. Sakura wanted a sibling too, when she was younger. But that would probably have distracted her even more.

_Let's see… Seat 14B, business class._ She looked around. _Ah, here. _Sakura bowed and asked a young miss if she could pass. The lady was the same height as her. Her hair was dark brown and puffy and on her face her lipstick-red lips curved into a sweet smile.

Sakura had a seat alone, at the right part of the plane, next to the window. The flight was long, so they were provided with a small screen and, since it was business class, a nice, big chair. The girl leaned backwards on her chair. People were still entering the plane and looking for their seats, so there won't be any stewardesses bringing water yet.

The pink-haired athlete decided to close her eyes for a while. Her seat included a small curtain, so people know she didn't want to be bothered. She closed both the curtain and her eyes and tried to relax for a while.

The announcement "Fasten your seat belts" had woken Sakura up. She stretched her limbs, fastened her seat belt and opened the little curtain. Everyone around her was seated. There weren't that much children and teenagers here, though. She tried to stand up a little and looked around. The only notable people around her age were a dark-skinned boy two rows in front of her, a blonde girl three rows back and three seats left from her a white-haired boy. He sat close enough for her to see his clothes. He wore a baseball jack and-

Wait a second.


End file.
